* A letter from Gov. JB Pritzker’s campaign counsel to the Illinois State Board of Elections…

February 10, 2023

Mr. Tom Newman
Director, Campaign Disclosure Division
Illinois State Board of Elections
2329 S. MacArthur Blvd.
Springfield, Illinois 62704

Dear Mr. Newman:

We are writing in response to the Illinois State Board of Elections’ (the “Board’s”) letter directing JB for Governor (the “Committee”) to amend its Statement of Organization to identify Governor Pritzker as a sponsoring entity of the Committee on the basis that he “provided at least 33% of [its] total funding.”

As you know, in 2017, the Committee requested guidance from the Board asking whether candidates are required to list themselves in the sponsoring entity field on their own committee’s Statement of Organization if they meet the 33% threshold. The Board’s staff advised that the Board does not require self-funding candidates to list themselves in the sponsoring entity field. The Board staff reasoned that 10 ILCS 5/9-3(b)(5) merely requires a political committee to disclose the name and address of any sponsoring entity on the committee’s Statement of Organization. The statute does not state “the person has to be identified as the sponsoring entity, only that their information has to be reported on the D-1. Since a candidate’s name and address already appear on their committee’s Statement of Organization, the Board reasoned that a candidate’s completed D-1 automatically fulfills the statutory obligation under 10 ILCS 5/9- 3(b)(5).

For the past six years, the Committee has relied on this guidance as it properly complied with its disclosure obligations. It is our understanding that the Board has recently changed its position on this question and is now requiring candidates to specifically list themselves in the sponsoring entity field when they meet the 33% threshold. Accordingly, the Committee has amended its Statement of Organization to reflect this change.

Sincerely,

Jonathan S. Berkon
Dulon D. Busser
Counsel to JB for Governor

From the statute…

For purposes of this Section, a “sponsoring entity” is (i) any person, organization, corporation, or association that contributes at least 33% of the total funding of the political committee or (ii) any person or other entity that is registered or is required to register under the Lobbyist Registration Act and contributes at least 33% of the total funding of the political committee.

As we’ve discussed, the statute has been mostly ignored by candidates and the State Board of Elections for years. The board has since notified committees suspected of being in non-compliance.

Anyway, discuss.

As an aside, I’ve noticed recently that the governor has cut way back on his over-use of the phrase “As you know,” but he has apparently passed the bug to his attorney.